The number of Canadians collecting unemployment insurance continues to drop, with the four Western Canadian provinces and Newfoundland-Labrador posting the biggest declines in March, according to Statistics Canada.
The number of British Columbians receiving regular benefits dropped 2.4% in March – part of a seven-month decline. That’s double the Canadian average of 1%.
All four Western Canadian provinces and Newfoundland had decreases in March in unemployment rolls. There was little change in the rest of Canada.
Of all Canadian provinces, Saskatchewan had the biggest decline in unemployment figures in March at 3.1%.
Of the four metropolitan areas in B.C., three had declines in the number of people collecting unemployment. Kelowna was the only one to have an increase of unemployment recipients in March, rising 1.9%.
The Abbotsford-Mission metropolitan area had the biggest decline in unemployment at 6.6%. It was the largest monthly decline in any Canadian metropolitan area.
Vancouver’s decrease was 1.8% and Victoria’s 1.3%.
Unemployment in Canada peaked in mid-2009 with about 850,000 insurance recipients. The numbers have steadily dropped to 523,700 in March 2013.
